Like I was tellin' ya,I'm a school teacher down by the border. My subject is U.S. History,and I ain't lyin' if I told ya' it's not tough trying to get through to these kids. I'm telling them about habeus corpuses and the French Indian War and all they want to know is what time does this class get over. It's not so bad though. I don't hold any grudges if they don't buy in to it. I get along with them all right.
I get to school a couple of hours before the bell rings cause I can't sleep in. So I get their early and set up my lessons for the day. If I finish early,I like to talk with Jorge our custodian. He's always moving staying busy. He gets at the school before anyone else and makes sure the school is presentable so the kids can destroy it before the day is over. And then Jorge is back at it the next morning.
Jorge used to be a fighter in Mexico. A prelim guy. He fought in a lot of those little towns in Mexico,some of them with those Indian names that even Mexicans struggle with. Apatzingan,Atotonilco,Yurequaro. Get my drift? Well you talk about a guy that will talk boxing like Jorge. He remembers all the fights in Mexico,big and small. He remembers the fighters' styles and who fought who and especially their nicknames. "Pajarito","El Puas","Mantequilla","Chiquita" It always sounds so cool when he pronounces those fighters' names with that good Mexican accent. He has a good eye for fighters and how they match up with each other. He knows the history of boxing in Mexico. I want to get him on the Forum,but he ducks the issue. I told him there's a Forum in Spanish,but he's satisfied sparring with me in the morning.
His favorite fighter was the transplanted Cuban "Sugar Ramos" He even named his son after Ramos. Not Sugar,but his real name"Ultiminio". Man,he must of really liked Ramos to name his kid "Ultiminio"
As he's moving around working, Jorge digs through the trash cans finding plastic bottles and cans. He tells me it all adds up. Today before the bell rang,I said I'd better be getting back to my room and check my emails.I saw him walk to the library. A poster had fallen off the front wall. It was one of those travel posters that showed the usual tourist shots. The Eiffel Tower,the Colisseum,Taj Majal,and some other beautifull places I wasn't familiar with. After Jorge put it back up,he stared at it. I could see his head moving from picture to picture. He stood there looking at it for some time. As I got to the end of the hallway,I looked over my shoulder. Jorge was going through the trash. He came up with a plastic bottle. I guess it all adds up.